Rose and Dimitri Revisited
by Marina Levin
Summary: Since Mead decided to do a small story on Rose and Dimitri soon, I figured I would come up with my own thoughts on their future.  disclaimer: I own none of the characters presented here. All credit to Richelle Mead.
1. Suprise

**1**

I was pissed. Ever since the little mess with the whole me breaking back into court after breaking out after being accused of murder, and what not, guardians sometimes still gave me a hard time. Even though Lissa went out of her way to try and stop it. Today is was Guardian Nikolai Vaslo. I saw a lot of him since he was the guardian in charge of Lissa's personal suite at court. I knew she was in there and desperately needed to see her and Nik wasn't letting me thorough.

"I'm sorry Guardian Hathaway" I still got chills sometimes at the title, " But, I've been given specific instructions by the queen not to allow anyone through these doors." He touched the earpiece with his finger, some new guardian technology, as he ignored the fierce glare I was giving him.

"If you'll go down to the lower level, you'll find the queen there waiting for you, near the entrance to the landing pad."

My annoyance turned to confusion almost instantly. I hadn't been to that landing pad since coming back from Vegas.

"Okay, well did they say why?"

"No." I stomped away in frustration. All I wanted was to vent to Lissa about how Dimitri had blown me off twice in as many days. A shiver ran through me at the thought of him. I shoved those feelings down 'pissed, not excited' I silently chastised myself.

I took the stairs two at a time, not wanting to wait for the elevator, until I reached the exit door, and sure enough there was Lissa surrounded by guardians; including Dimitri. I threw him a hasty glare before returning my attention to Lissa.

"Liss, can you please tell me what all this is about." I said gesturing around to the scene before us, which included 2 private jets and a foray of guardians.

"Airports, extreme secrecy, thought this was your scene Rose." said a slim figure appearing from behind me. I lightly punched Christians arm as he dutifully went to Lissa's side. They held hands and smiled a very secretive that irritated smile.

I threw my hands up in exasperation.

"Look guys, I thought after the whole Jill thing was taken care of, our lives would be a little more secret free."

"Rose, stop being so dramatic. We're going on vacation, not out on a strigoi hunt!" said Lissa

Vacation? Where could we possibly be going?

Dimitri was suddenly at my side.

"So this is what all of the ignoring me was about? You weren't avoiding me?"

He rubbed my arms gently before running his hands through my hair to move a few strands out of my face.

"Roza , nothing could make me avoid you. Well at the exception of you trying to cook dinner." I grimaced at the thought of a few weeks back when my attempt at a romantic dinner turned into me almost burning down our apartment below Lissa's.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead and I smiled, forgetting my earlier bitchy feelings.

It was spring break so Lissa and Christian were off from school, so why not indulge in some fun. God knows I needed some; sitting through Lissa's classes was worse than being in high school.

"I don't have anything packed though." I was being led to a plane and was trying to halt my pursuit as I thought of the Betsey Johnson bikini sitting in my top drawer that was a present from Lissa.

Dimitri and Lissa smiled at each other again, and I had a feeling that us leaving was only part of the secrecy.

"Will someone give me a fucking clue as to what is going on please?"

"First of all, your stuff is already packed and on the plane." Said Lissa. That's when I noticed that both jets were prepared with attendants at the doors.

"Second, we're going on vacation, just not together. Don't look at me like that Rose, me and Christian are going to a secret location and we'll have four guardians with us" I still didn't like the idea of leaving her. Dimitri's grip was tightening and it seemed there was no way I was going to win an argument with them. So instead, I hugged them both goodbye, lingering a bit with Lissa.

"Have fun…where you're going." She said as a tear ran down her eye.

"Liss, is something going on here. Like is someone threatening to assassinate me and you're shipping me off?" She laughed and kissed my cheek.

"Not even close Rose. Love you see you in a week." They boarded their plane just as me and Dimitri boarded ours.

"Any chance you're going to fill me in on where we're going comrade?" I asked biting down on my lip a little in a way that I knew would get his attention. He bit it right back when he kissed me.

"You remember the corn palace right?" I raised my brow in disbelief as he smirked and settled into his seat. This was going to be a very interesting flight.


	2. Back Again

**2**

When we touched down I instantly woke up, my guardian training coming into play as I quickly looked outside my window to get a feel of my surroundings. What I saw was all too familiar and made me stop breathing. This airport was one I had been to before, and that held nothing but bad memories. I looked over at Dimitri who was trying to read my feelings while trying to conceal his own. I figured that he was nervous about coming back here, but I was going to try and be as upbeat and supportive as I could.

"Russia?" I said surprised at the grim spreading over my face. That triggered a smile from Dimitri

"I wanted to take you somewhere we had never been together. Somewhere special."

I decided to not point out the fact that we had been here together. Just under different circumstances.

The cab that was waiting for us dropped us off at a gorgeous hotel along the Neva. It looked like a palace.

"Fancy housing for such a short vacation don't you think?" I said but excited none the less since the last time I had spent time in lodging with Dimitri it was hotels and motels in the middle of nowhere.

"Lissa booked it. I was looking at places that were in outside of the city; smaller. She refused. "He said looking oddly nervous. An expression I wasn't used to seeing on his face.

The room was an entire floor of the hotel, and as the luggage boy left out room, I locked the door behind him and faced Dimitri, who was suddenly standing right in front of me.

"Well, I think that after such a long flight we should exercise our muscles. Isn't that something you're always saying to me? Don't give my body too much rest?" Dimitri was trailing kisses down my neck while simultaneously pulling the burgundy sweater I was wearing off of me. My hands remembered how to function after a second and I started taking his shirt off as he picked me up with both my legs around his waist. He walked over to the biggest bed I had ever seen in my life and laid me down on it. I looked into his dark brown eyes, and my hand automatically reached for the strand of hair that was falling away from his face. I was so happy in that moment. The most amazing man in the world was mine and I couldn't even remember what it was like to not feel the way I felt now. After some very quick clothing removal on Dimitri's part, we had sex until I passed out from exhaustion hours later.

When I awoke naked in the silk hotel sheets, I was alone and heard the shower running. As I was walking toward the bathroom door to join him, I bumped into his suitcase, spilling its contents everywhere. I mumbled some expletives under my breath as I hastened to pick everything up, but my hands stopped when they found a small royal blue velvet box.

I was shaking so hard it was a miracle I heard the shower turn off in time to toss the box back into the suitcase and throw the flap back over. I attempted to seem relaxed as I entered the bathroom. Dimitri was coming out of the shower and as always, I was amazed that Dimitri wet was sexier than when he was dry.

"You just missed me. I'll get back in if you'd like"

"No that's okay." I said pressing a kiss to his lips. "Don't want you to get all pruney."

He smiled and shut the door behind him.

After I got the water running I slid down to the floor of the shower and tried to calm down. Earrings. It must be earring. Not a ring. Surely not an engagement ring. The big trip, the secrecy the intimacy…a ring didn't seem too illogical, but I couldn't bring myself to believe it. After a minute, a sudden calm washed over me as I thought of him. Dimitri, the man who I loved more than anything in this world. The one who I already planned on spending the rest of my life with. I stood up and washed my hair with a smile on my face, eager to get back to him.


	3. Change

**3**

After getting ready, wearing a gorgeous black gown Lissa packed away for me, we went to dinner at a restaurant close by. Dimitri had to order because apparently the place was to swank to speak English. Rosemarie Belikov. Rosemarie Hathaway-Belikov.

"What are you thinking about?" Dimitri asked looking at me curiously.

"Oh nothing really, just hoping you didn't order me intestines or some other weird Russian food . And how this is the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me. And that I love you."

He reached across the table, to hold my hand.

"I love you too Roza. More than my life."

I was giddy over dinner, which I was pleased to find was just chicken in some delicious tangy sauce over potatoes.

As we walked out of the restaurant Dimitri led me in the opposite direction of the hotel, along the Neva. The Neva had to be the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Not that I'd seen many rivers or anything, but I still assumed this one was pretty beautiful. There was a small bridge coming up where he led me and my heart starting beating at a million miles a minute. This was it. He was going to propose to me. I could barely keep still as he leaned against the bridge.

" Rose. There's a reason I wanted to bring you here. To Russia. It's somewhere that I love, even though I may not have been the best person to it sometimes. It's beautiful, erratic, different, and a part of me. Like you. I have never met anyone in my life like you Roza, no one more insistent in doing what they want, who puts everyone ahead of themselves. You are the only person I have ever loved. The only one I ever want to love." He started to reach into his pocket as I sensed someone coming up from out right. And then they were on us.

Four strigoi had appeared from out of nowhere and they weren't young or resistant; they were moving with a purpose. I took the stake I had fashioned to the inside of my thigh out quickly, ripping my dress in the process. I was on the smaller two while Dimitri grappled with the larger, pulling a stake out of his own. I had just gotten my stake in the shorter of the two men's chest as I noticed three more strigoi approaching. I looked at Dimitri in horror as he struggled to fend off both attackers. He spared a glance my way that showed me exactly what I knew. We might not make it out of this fight.

"I love you." I shouted over all of the ruckus as two more strigoi were on me and the other strigoi I was fighting with.

"Will you marry me?" I heard him shout back while grunting.

"What?" I shouted back in exasperation trying to prolong at least this conversation. "You can't be serious." A spark of something kindled inside of me and I lost it. Suddenly, I was infuriated. How dare these attackers try and ruin my perfect night. I kicked out at the one as I staked two of them back to back , just as I heard a piercing scream from one of the strigioi on Dimitri. The other strigoi had started fighting each other and one must have bitten the other. Not interested in sharing apparently. The last strigoi on me looked over at the scream which gave me the perfect opportunity to stab her in her heart. As she went down I went to Dimitri's side where he was taking down one of the strigoi. I stabbed the one that was attacking him from behind through his back and as he fell, me and Dimitri finished off the other two strigoi. I collapsed to the ground with him as he pushed my hair off of my sweaty face. I didn't know how it was possible. Seven strigoi . Dead within a matter of minutes. I looked around at the scene and couldn't fathom how we did it.

I shakily reached into Dimitri's coat pocket which had ended up on the ground at some point and pulled out his phone to call the alchemists. As we waited, Dimitri looked at me in a astounded way.

"What?" I asked him, attempting to stand up.

"I don't know how we did it. I don't know how you took them all down so quickly. If you hadn't come to help me I don't think I would have been able to kill them all."

I attempted to smooth out the dress although I had to admit it was ruined.

"Ask me again."

"How you did it?" He said confused.

"No idiot. Ask me again."

Realization dawned on him and he bent down on one knee in front of me.

"Roza," he drew out the small box " will you marry me." He opened up the box which held a thin silver band with a beautiful small round diamond with tiny rubies on each side of it.

" Yes" I said smiling despite our surroundings. I couldn't help but cry. Grateful to be alive and even more grateful to have Dimitri. He stood up after placing the ring on my finger.

"That's how I did it." I said " I want to have a life with you."

He held me close to him as he pressed a kiss to my head.

After the alchemist showed up, within minutes, we made our way back to the hotel.

"The first strigoi were a part of my old team. That's why they must of attacked. The other three just seemed starved." I vaguely remembered that the last ones were dirty and smelled like shit. Not that it was the first thing I noticed. "I would feel better if we got out of Petersburg. We just can't tell Lissa." Dimitri said while unzipping my dress after we were safely in our room and attempting to not touch the cuts that covered most of me. Damn dresses in fighting.

" Believe me I will not be including this in my engagement story." I said with butterflies in my stomach. Engaged. I was engaged. I turned around to face Dimitri as the dress fell to the floor. I was exhausted and I knew he was too, so after helping strip his shirt off, we climbed into the bed. He held me and stroked my face as I fell asleep.


	4. Family

**4**

When I woke up the next morning, the few things I had taken out of my bag were packed away again save for the dress, but there was no saving it. We got on a train out of the city, but Dimitri didn't tell me where we were going. I fell asleep against his shoulder and when I woke up to him stroking my face, I didn't know how long I had been out. He was tense and quiet as we started walking out of the station, and when I realized where we had ended up, I knew why. We were directly outside of Baia, Dimitri's hometown.

"They don't know do they." I said lacing my fingers with his as we walked toward the town.

"I couldn't tell them. Not after losing contact for so long and then…" He didn't finish the sentence but I knew he was referring to the fact the word had gotten to his mother about strigoi Dimitri hunting me.

"Dimitri your family loves you. And its broad daylight so we've got the proof thing going for us."

His tension didn't ease and the closer we got the more nervous I got. I was worried that his family wouldn't understand. I knew that they had thought of him as dead before even though he was undead.

As the small house came into view, I decided to break away from Dimitri and go in first. I turned back to him and noticed that he was allowing me to take the lead. I knocked on the door and couldn't help the smile that came on my face when Dimitri's mother Olena opened the door. A look of shock crossed her face but she quickly pulled me in for an embrace murmuring nurturing sounding words in Russian. She kissed my cheeks and held my face back to look at me.

"Rosemarie you look like you've been in a fight recently recently." She said sounding worried.

"I'm fine. I've had worse anyway. Even in Russia."

"Why _are_ you in Russia? Not that I'm –" and that's when he walked up and her eyes widened. She stepped back from me and starting mumbling something while tears started building in her eyes.

" Dimka?" She finally managed to speak after what felt like an eternity. She stepped past me and slowly walked over to her son. It was broad daylight and he looked perfect; alive.

She reached him and slowly reached her hand to his face. His eyes closed and he looked ashamed. She started to cry full on now and took him into her arms. I had rarely seen Dimitri so vulnerable but right then, he looked like a child in his mother's arms.

As we made our way inside the rest of the family appeared and took turns being at first scared, then stunned, then euphoric. There was a lot of hugging and crying going on and I felt like I was being passed around the room to everyone until I finally collapsed in a seat watching them.

I had never seen them all together and it was weird how I felt a homey feeling. They were my family too. Now more than ever. That's when I noticed Viktoria was staring at me. She walked over to me, wiping the tears away from her face and sat next to me.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you Rose." She said barely audible. "You were right about him you know, Rolan. I didn't want to believe you but Sonya admitted it to me after I told her about us. I've been trying to find a way to get a hold of you to apologize." She looked uncomfortable so I leaned over and hugged her.

"Don't worry about it kid, I can't really blame you too much he was pretty sexy." She smiled in agreement as I let her go but I could tell she had something else she wanted to say.

"He was okay but there's someone else now." I mentally groaned. Another moroi ? "You remember Nikolai right?" How could I forget about the dhampir boy who seemed entranced by Viktoria but she seemed to have no feelings for him.

"Well," she continued " he was really supportive when I got back to school since I was kinda devastated over the whole Rolan thing, and I don't know, something changed. I realized how amazing he was, and not just in a way to get to me, but more like he wanted to make me feel better. We started dating, but I haven't seen him since he got assigned a guardian job at court a few months back." A tear fell from her eye, that she hastily wiped away, as she talked about him.

"I've missed him so much, but we talk on the phone a few times a week, and he's trying to go on leave in a few months. " I could tell that she was trying to seem positive, but I knew what it was like being away from someone you loved that much. Fucking brutal.

"Viktoria, what are you doing now that you've graduated?" I asked, an idea coming to my mind.

"Absolutely nothing. Helping around the house, I have a waitress job in town. It's boring, which is why this surprise has just made my month. Maybe my year!"

I laughed at her seriousness, and when I turned to join the group, I realized they had made their way to the kitchen.

When we entered, I saw Dimitri standing at the counter doing something with his hands. I put my arms around him and he turned to kiss me, brushing my face with the flour that was on his hands.

"Excuse you, you know how I react to ingredients." He laughed a sweet laugh that was so full of happiness I was pretty sure it was leaking into me.

"Rose, I promise to never put flour, or any other baking products near you again."

"As you should. What are you making anyway?" I asked peering around his huge form. I noticed the familiar food as black bread. I remembered the last time I was here, Olena had mentioned it was Dimitri's favorite as a kid and that she made him learn to make it so that he knew how hard it was.

I left him back to his work as I sat at the table with Yeva, his mom, and his sisters. They all asked me questions about how I had been, but no one asked any questions about Dimitri's sudden change from a strigoi to a dhampir. That was what I loved about them, they all accepted miracle and disaster without questioning it. Or Yeva had something to do with it, I could never tell with her cryptic messages.

I was just about to ask Karolina about Paul when he came bustling through the kitchen door.

He started saying something in Russian to his mother before he realized me and ran over.

"Rose!" he said throwing his arms around me. He was huge now. Atleast 12. He must have had a growth spurt because last time I saw him he was half my size, and now he looked taller than me.

"Are you finally coming back to live with us? I knew it couldn't be true when you left that you didn't want to be with us."  
>"Of course I wanted to stay then. I just had things to do. And no I'm, not staying here. Me and your uncle are here on vacation." That's when Paul turned around to see a very patient Dimitri studying him. I took the time to watch them both facing each other. Paul looked like a miniature version of Dimitri. Even his hair was growing past his ears. After about a minute's assessment, Paul ran over to hug him, without question. Dimitri said something in Russian to Paul, and Paul punched him, but laughed with a response.<p>

It was amazing that their reactions were so happy and welcoming. Where the hell were they when we were trying to fix this mess at court?

"Well there is another reason we're here Roza." He came over to the table after putting the bread in the oven, and he sat in my chair, and pulled me onto his lap. Everyone was watching us in anticipation.

"Oh yea that." I said a grin spreading over my face as his arms wrapped around me.

"Get on with it child, I'm not getting any younger." Yeva said in exasperation.

"Dimitri proposed last night. We're engaged." This ensued another round of hugging kissing and crying and I was drinking in every moment of it. I felt so at home with them. My family.

The night went by quickly as we all exchanged stories. When we finally went to go to bed, it was well after midnight.

"I have an idea." I said snuggling into bed next to Dimitri in his old bed.

"Hm?" He said running his forehead over my own.

"Why don't we bring Viktoria back to court with us? I mean we can always use more female guardians, and she's not doing much of anything here. It's not like she wouldn't be doing anything against Yeva's wishes anyway. She could still do the whole baby thing. Just on her own time."

A small grin appeared on his face, visible to me even in the dark.

"I think that would be a great idea. You should tell her tomorrow."

I kissed him lightly and turned over to go to sleep.

I was prepared for instantly passing out since I was exhausted. What I wasn't prepared for was the old feeling of a spirit induced dream.


	5. Amends

**5**

I knew for a fact that Lissa had not figured out how to enter dreams and I hoped to god it wasn't Robert Doru, Victor Dashkov's brother. But I was still surprised when Adrian appeared from behind a beautiful oak tree. I didn't know the setting but wherever we were was beautiful and sunny with lots of flowers.

"Little Dhampir." I hadn't seen him in over a year since I helped Jill to California. Last I'd heard he was living there with Sydney, which was the biggest shock I had ever had in my life, and that he was going to school.

I couldn't help or hide the tears that started running down my face as I ran toward him and flung myself into his arms.

"Adrian. I've missed you so much." He let me cry for a few moments and I almost instantly regretted it until I realized something. He wasn't holding me in the same way, and he didn't seem angry with me anymore. He actually seemed happy to see me too but not in a romantic way.

I pulled away and got a good look at him.

"What Rose? I told you before I'm not a science experiment." A smile lit up his face and I realized it wasn't just his attitude about me that was different.

"Something's different about you. I just can't figure it out."

"Probably my lack of crazy entering into my otherwise perfect persona. I haven't used spirit in a while. In fact, I haven't drank or smoked in a while either. The whole magic thing really creeps Syd out so I don't do it much. She'll come around though. She always does. " His eyes lit at the mention of her name and I still couldn't believe it.

"You and Sydney. If you would have told me when I met her that she would shack up with a vampire I would have laughed in your face. You've really changed her haven't you?" I couldn't help but feel giddy right now. Not only was my love life perfect, but now I was good with Adrian again? When did the odds fall in my favor this good?

"She changed me. You changed me. Or maybe I've finally reached my peak of greatness. You know I didn't want to cast it on everyone this whole time. Would've been too much for the female sex to handle." I laughed wholeheartedly. Some things never would change.

"So you seem pretty different yourself there Little Dhampir. Anything you'd like to share? You're aura is about ten shades of gold."

"I'm in Russia right now." His eyes widened a bit in disbelief and I couldn't blame him since my track record here wasn't too great. "With Dimitri. I'm engaged."

And there it was. It was the briefest and fleeting look in his eyes, but it was there. Regret, sadness, a whole lost else, but I was grateful when it was gone and replaced by a smile.

"I'm happy for you. I really am. And that's why I wanted to see you. To tell you I'm sorry Rose. What I said to you? I was stupid and you were right. I was wasting my life, and now I know that."

I gave him another hug and we said our goodbyes.

"Me and Syd are coming to court in a few. We'll have to do lunch or some other adult thing that couples do."

I was released from the dream and fell into my own sleep.

When I woke up the next day, I slowly got out of bed without waking Dimitri and tiptoed to Viktorias room.

When I opened the door and sat on the edge of her bed, she woke up instantly alert until she realized it was me.

"I know you're a guardian Rose but don't you know how to sleep in?" She asked pulling her sheets over her head.

"Not when I have very important news that involves you and Nikolai." This instantly got her attention and she shot up out of bed.

"Speak. Now."

"Shh. Don't be so loud!" But I couldn't help the grin spreading over my face. "I talked to Dimitri about it and we think it would be a good idea to bring you back to court with us. They need guardians and since I'm the queen's best friend, it won't be a problem at all." At first she didn't react. Then I was being hugged too tight for this early in the morning.

"Yes. Yes. Defnintely. My mom will have to go for it. This is the best idea ever." She stood up and started walking in circles and pulling stuff from her closet.

"Viktoria it's Wednesday. We're leaving Saturday. I think you have plenty of time to do that later."

"Right. Of course. Should I call him and tell him? No I'll surprise him. Oh, thank you Rose thank you so much!" She said hugging me again.

The rest of the week went by in a similar fashion to the first night, and far too fast for my standards of a vacation. When Saturday morning came, I felt depressed about leaving, but also sort of glad to get back to my own bed. We weren't leaving until around one so when Olena asked if I could run an errand in town, I more than happily obliged. I left Dimitri so that they could spend some time together before we left, and went off to town alone. As I was in the market, I noticed a few guardians in the plaza. They looked familiar but I couldn't place them. That was until I noticed a brightly colored scarf blowing around a bit.

"Dad." I said coming up behind him putting my hands on my hips as he turned around.

"My, Rose, what a pleasant surprise, I had no idea you were in Baia again. Isn't that a coincidence James?" He said to one of his guardians. I found it hard to believe that this was coincidence.

"How is it possible that this trip was crafted in secrecy by the queen's special secret planners or whatever, yet you somehow knew how to find me?"

"Haven't I told you to never question my ways Rosemarie? Just accept them" He put his arm around my shoulder and led me to a small café.

"So my darling daughter, what is it that brings you back to this town? Finally settling down? Ready to be a mommy?"

"God no, I came here on vacation and…well" I didn't exactly know how to tell me father. I was quite aware of how he felt about Dimitri "I was apparently brought here to get engaged."

If he was mad or surprised he didn't show it.

"Well congratulations. I expect an invitation of course."

"You're not mad?" I asked incredulously.

"Mad? Oh no, of course not, I received word of his buying the ring weeks ago. I've had plenty of time to imagine all of the terrible things I will do to him if he ever hurts you."

"How comforting." I murmured under my breath.

"Now, I know that Vasilissa will probably want to have say in the wedding, but as your father, I deserve to be apart of the process. I have a lovely tailor named Katya who I'm shipping over to you next month to make your dress. I refuse to have my daughter walking around in something that isn't perfect." If I didn't know better I would say he was getting fatherly on me.

"That would be perfect. I have to go though. My flight leaves in a few hours."

"I know. I've sent a car to the Belikov's that will take you." I smiled in response, and kissed him on the forehead as I got up. He looked a little astonished but quickly stood with me walking me to the door.

"Always remember Rose, anytime you need anything call. There isn't much I can't do, or fix."

"I'll remember Zme-dad."

I walked back to the house quickly and sure enough, a very expensive looking car was waiting outside.

Dimitri and I said our goodbyes to his family, and I was sad to leave them. They were truly my family, and I felt like I was leaving a part of me behind. Me Viktoria and Dimitri left and boarded a plane in Petersburg later that day.

Getting back into the U.S. was bittersweet. I would miss Russia, but I loved my place with Dimitri; it was home. When we got back to court, we took Viktoria off at the station where she would need to fill out forms to be a guardian there. I had arranged it so that she would work very close to Nikolai's post. But Dimitri's string pulling was pure genius. He had Nikolai moved out of the rooms he was in and into a family apartment on the other side of court. Nikolai had no idea why, but why question an upgrade like that? After everything was settled, we took her to her new home, and I could see her anxiety on her face.

"It'll be okay you know." I said squeezing her hand in support. "it's scary at first, but things change when you love someone that much." I looked at Dimitri and smiled thinking of us living together at first. I had thrown a few things at him more than once in that first month, but eventually I realized I was being a bitch and stopped.

When we got to the door, I knocked first, since he sort of knew me. When he answered he was surprised.

"Guardian Hathaway. I was wondering if I would ever see you here." He gave me a polite smile but looked a little sad.

"Well I figured I should welcome you properly to court, and that involves gifts." I stepped aside, as did Dimitri, and Viktoria showed herself. All of her fear vanished, because in an instant she was in his arms. HE was holding her tightly and looking at me in disbelief.

"thank you." He muttered barely audible. " Thank you." We said goodbye to each other, and honestly, I couldn't fathom how amazing the week had gone. I was elated as me and Dimitri walked back to our apartment, and also exhausted.

"Well, fiancé, I think we should sleep until Monday what do you think?" He smiled as he dropped our bags in the living room.

"I think that you're full of good ideas this week." Just as we settled in bed a loud knock was at our door.

"Is it Monday already?" I said peaking at Dimitri from under my covers. He started to get up, but I stopped him.

"I'll get it." When I walked to the door, I wasn't surprised to see Lissa, what I was surprised to see was the look on her face.

"I need to talk to you. Now." She stormed away, and I threw a glance in the direction of the bedroom door, which was open, and Dimitri waved me on. Damned queen, messing up my sleep.


	6. Another Beginning

When we got to her room I was surprised that Christian wasn't there.

"What the hell is going on Liss. I mean I miss you too, but couldn't this wait?" When she turned around there were tears in her eyes and I was instantly at her side. My body ached right now at the lack of the bond. Sometimes I wished I still knew what she was thinking.

"Liss, what's wrong, and where is Christian?"

"He's not talking to me. I said some pretty awful things to him last night and this morning. He looked so hurt Rose. He said he would stay at a friends until I felt better and to just call him. I was a pure bitch, and he was still so understanding." She covered her face as she cried.

"Why did you say those things though. I'm confused here Liss. Talk to me. "

"I'm late Rose. My period is over a month late." I sat their silently for a few minutes while that processed in my head.

"But it could be a lot of things Liss." I tried reason since I had nowhere else to go with this issue. " You've been extremely stressed out lately since they finally passed the age decree. You've been filling out so much paperwork and school? You probably went into overdrive from finally stopping. People miss their periods all the time when their stressed." She looked a little less freaked and stopped crying.

"Do you think so? I would still feel better if I knew." So at that, I went down stairs and across the street in my pajamas to buy a pack of pregnancy tests at a convenience shop.

When I got back she had composed herself a bit, and I waited as she peed on the stick things.

They took a few minutes to work so we sat on the bathroom floor waiting for them.

"I'm so sorry Rose, I completely forgot to ask." She said looking at the ring on my finger. "How was it. Were you surprised?"

"I was. Actually, I was scared at first. But it was perfect. He was perfect. I can't believe I'm getting married. And Abe is sending someone to make me a dress. Damn things are changing so much." I said laughing a little. Lissa started to protest, since she probably wanted to have a say in my dress, when her phone buzzed, letting us know it was time to look at the tests. She looked at me for reassurance as we stood off the cold bathroom floor.

There, on the counter, were three positive blue plus signs staring back up at us. Things were definitely about to change.


	7. shocked

Before I get into the story, fist of all, sorry for the shortness! I haven't had much of a break from school and work and sleeping has become a lovely escape. Second, thank you all so much for the reviews! They were all so inspiring! And last but surely not least, Richelle has just recently, as in a few days ago, released information on what her short story is going to contain. She's having Dimitri and Rose go to Russia and they are going to see his family…I was in shock for a while, and I'm fancying myself a bit of a psychic! Phew now that that's out of the way, please enjoy, and expect some interesting and long chapters to come soon! –M.L.

**8**

To say that I was in shock would be saying the least. Lissa and Christian having a baby. It wasn't so much that I was upset about it, it was just so weird. My best friend was pregnant.

I walked back down to Dimitri and my apartment in a daze, since Lissa wanted to tell Christian in private.

When I walked back in, Dimitri, who had been asleep, woke up as I shut the door. 'sorry' I mouthed. As I climbed back into the comfort of his arms.

"so what was that about? Is Lissa okay?" I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my face when I heard the worry Dimitri was trying to mask. He was the only person beside me who I knew worried about Lissa so much.

"She's fine. She's…well, she's pregnant." I could feel his arms tense around me for a second which caused me to sit up and look at him. What I saw wasn't an appealing picture. He looked sad.

"Dimitri, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that, I know how important Moroi our to our society, and I'm grateful to put my life on the line, but it just makes me realize that me and you, even if we could have kids, we wouldn't be able to raise them ourselves. It just upsets me sometimes." I realized the hurt in his eyes and I couldn't really blame him.

Kids weren't exactly on my list of priorities, but I could definitely picture Dimitri running around in some back yard chasing around a small boy with dark hair and eyes. I quickly shook my head dismissing the image.

"I thought about the same thing once, way back when, when I thought you were going to be with Tasha. I thought it wasn't fair. But then I realized something. Me and you will constantly be with this baby. It might as well be half ours." This made him smile, and he pulled me down back into his arms.

"Roza, you've become quite the optimist over the past few years. "I closed my eyes and snuggling into his warm and extremely naked kissed my forehead before I passed out from the exhaustion.

By the end of the week I finally felt back on schedule. When I woke up that next Saturday morning, Dimitri wasn't beside me in bed, and when I walked into the kitchen I saw that he was cooking bacon. Naked. My two favorite things.

I snuck up behind him to tried and snatch a piece of bacon that was on the table behind him, but he was too fast and caught me before I could grab it.

"You have no patience do you?" He said playfully holding my arms behind my back.

"To be honest, right now I don't have patience to wait for anything." I said eyeing him up and down.

Dimtri pushed everything out of the way and lifted me up onto the kitchen table. He started kissing hungrily at my neck. We made love on our kitchen table until the kitchen began to fill with smoke.

Dimitri turned around and said something in Russian that sounded like a swear, before turning off the stove and trying to stop the bacon from charring. I couldn't help but giggle like an idiot at the situation. Ever since getting back to the apartment from the vacation, we had been constantly having sex. Everywhere . We had some problems keeping everyday things ,like turning off the stove, on our minds.

"I think we're managing to christen every space of the apartment. I need to make a list." I said jumping off the table and cleaning up the mess.

"I think the only place left is the closet at the end of the hallway, and I'm way too tall."

"I'm willing to try." I said kissing his chest as I turned toward the sink.

"Of course you are." He said with a smile appearing on his face.

After we diffused the issues in the kitchen, we managed to shower, and get ready without sexually attacking one another.

As I kissed him goodbye to go grab Lissa, I couldn't help but feel lonely as he went the opposite direction. Lately, it had felt physically painful to leave his side. He had to go check on Viktoria though and I had to accompany Lissa to her baby appointment. Christian would have jumped at the chance to go, but Lissa had insisted that he not cancel the trainings he did every Saturday with moroi fire users.

Lissa had been afraid to tell Christian when I left her that past Sunday, but when she did tell him, he cried, she cried, it was like an emotional happy free for all, and I couldn't help but be glad I didn't have to watch.

When I got to Lissa's suite, Nik knocked on her door and she came out looking radiant as always, but also glowing. She grabbed my hand and I smiled feeling like little kids as we walked down to the doctors office.


	8. Suprise Lunch

Thank you all so much for the reviews, it means so much to me. This chapter was a little lengthy but I wanted to reintroduce some past characters. Hope you guys like. R&R.- M.L.

_**8**_

The doctor appointment had gone well and the o.b. declared that Lissa was just over 12 weeks pregnant, and that she was due November 13th. As we made our way to the food court, I was still elated over this entire situation. Lissa with a baby on the way. Me getting married. It was so difficult imagining our lives being so normal and happy, but this was real life, and I was on more than happy to stay along for the ride. As we sat down at a nearby booth waiting for our sandwiches, Lissa looked nervous.

"Liss, what is it? Are you worried about the baby? The o.b. said everything looked perfect."

"It's not that. I just don't want you to be mad at me." She said looking sheepish.

"Mad at you? Why the _hell _would I be-"

"I cannot believe you didn't call your own mother to tell her you were engaged." I looked up in shock to see the infamous Janine Hathaway standing before me. We had a strained relationship to say the least, but it had been on the mend. Judging by the look on her face, I fucked that up yet again.

"I'm sorry mom, I just wanted to tell you in person. How did you find out anyway?" I threw an accusatory glance at Lissa.

"Your father called me and asked me if I would be his date to our daughter's wedding. He wanted to know in advance so that he could have an outfit made for me to match his own." She actually scoffed at this idea..

I stood up and hugged her, she was surprised at first, but loosened up after a second.

"I just want to be in your life. You're my daughter and I want the best for you. That's why I'm accepting Queen Dragomir's offer."

"Call me Lissa Guardian Hathaway. Please." Said Lissa trying to take attention away from the current situation.

"What offer?" I asked curiously.

"Queen- Lissa has offered me a permanent position here at court to be a council guardian. It's a very prestigious honor, and one that gets me closer to my…family." I stood shocked for a moment before throwing my arms around her yet again. An absentee mother no more. I saw the relief in Lissa's eyes that I wasn't attacking her for bringing my mother here. I had had far too much loss in my life to not see this situation as anything but incredible.

We all sat down at the booth and my mom, surprising to me and Lissa both, began to animatedly ask questions about my engagement. I went into the full romantic and cheesy details of the surprise trip and the beautiful things he prepared, again leaving out the strigoi attack, and then showed her the ring. She started to cry a little, but quickly regained control over her emotions; a guardian trick.

"I'm so happy for you Rosemarie. I hope I can help you with the arrangements. I don't have much experience with it but I'm willing to try."

"That would be great mom, I would love that."

The lunch ended after about 2 hours of chatting and planning on when to meet up to begin planning for my wedding and Lissa's baby. I left Lissa at her door and stopped to chat with Guardian Vaslo. Aside from a few weeks back when he pissed me off, we got along well. He was an attractive guy, well as far as I had to assume since my definition included, tall, dark, and Russian. He had an accent thicker than Dimitri', dirty blond hair he kept longer on top, and his eyes were a piercing dark blue. Throw in a tall and chiseled physique and yea he was hot. And even though I was head over heels in love and had no intention of veering off of the path I had with Dimitri, I still flirted with my guy friends. I was Rose Hathaway, it was part of my genetic code or something.

"So Nik, get any action lately. I saw you the other night talking to Guardian Konsta." We both laughed at this. Konsta was a solid lady who was somewhere around the age of 40 and had a look on her face that would make small children cry and run for cover.

"No Rose. I don't really have much time for those kinds of things." I saw the brief flash of regret and envy flash through his eyes. It made me think that there was more to it than that, and even though I had gotten to know him pretty well in the past few years, I didn't want to pry in his life.

"Well once that baby comes the suite will be getting a hell of lot more guardians so your shifts will be shorter and you'll have more time to get some. Or maybe in your case you'd be getting more training."

A small smile showed on his face and after saying some witty remarks back and forth along with a 'that's what she said' on my part, I headed back outside.

I wasn't quite ready to go back to the apartment since I knew Dimitri wasn't there. It was weird not seeing him when we were home for the weekend. Every Friday Lissa finished classes at noon so we would head back to court after that and then wouldn't leave until late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Christian was not in college but had a moroi fire specialization class that went on a few times a week for teenagers and adults and Saturday afternoon with kids. Dimitri rarely left his side during these sessions and was always helpful, but he never stayed Saturday since I would be home. Today was an exception since Christian was doing an offensive lesson today, and Dimitri, ever the selfless man, could not refuse the plea on Christian's behalf. I knew they were outside on the green, so I made my way the half mile or so down to the area.

I sat and watched in awe as Dimitri mingled with the moroi kids. He looked like a natural out there, smiling and laughing with them. I couldn't help the pang that went through me thinking about kids. It wasn't that I wanted kids, but it was the whole not having a choice thing that sucked. I was pulled out of my wallowing by someone jumping on my back from behind and knocking me down. I was instantly on alert until I noticed the blonde bouncy curls covering my face. I turned and saw mia smiling down at me.

"Just because you are child size does not mean you can sit on me as you please."

She laughed before sitting down beside me. She was extremely anxious looking and looked like she was about to burst with whatever she came to say.

"Rose, I need to talk to you. And I don't want you to feel all high and mighty because I had to come to you, but you are the only person I can actually ask about this." I was struck by the seriousness of her voice. Usually me and Mia threw around fake bitchy comments and laughed them off.

"Okay, I'm listening."

"First I need you to promise me you won't say a damn thing to anyone okay. Not even your seven foot Russian god, alright?"

"I promise."

"Okay. How do you make it work with someone when everyone and everything is against you? When you know what you're doing would be considered against people's wishes?" She looked like she was in pain just talking about it.

"Honestly? There is no way to make it work if you keep thinking something's wrong with it. That's what kept getting in the way for me and Dimitri. He kept pushing me away, for well, a lot of good reasons, and I kept pushing back because I knew we were supposed to be together. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything Mia, and I don't just mean things for yourself, I mean you have to ready to accept that their lives will never be the same because of it too." I stopped myself when she started tearing up.

"I'm in love with someone. And I know he loves me, but he's…he's not moroi." Like I hadn't already fucking guessed that? Geez I had slept with my instructor who was also my best friends guardian. I can read between the lines.

"Who's guardian is he Mia?" She almost looked shocked that I would ask such a thing but she just shook her head at me.

"I can't say and besides it wouldn't matter. I need to be with him Rose. You know what its like to be deprived of something that feels natural. Just tell me what I need to do."

"Tell him the truth. That your willing to sacrifice it all if he is too."

"Yeah, easier said than done." She briefly hugged me before trudging back to her housing. Of course right when life had become blissful for me, one of my best friends would start to have bad shit happening to her. I stood up and left the field since everyone down there seemed too busy anyway. I walked around court for a while before I found myself running into someone I hadn't seen in a few months. I couldn't help the smile that crept over my face as I was lifted off the ground in a bear hug.

"Rose Hathaway I have to say you get less pissy every time I see you." I was gently sat back on the ground as I looked up into reassuring and familiar eyes.

"Eddie Castile every time I see you I'd have to say you're getting less and less obnoxious, but no, I can't say that." He made a mock angry face before slinging his arm around me and leading me toward the shops.

"Now, I haven't seen you in a while. Tell me what's new in your life."

"Nothing much, I got bangs, some new shoes, Lissa's pregnant, I'm engaged…" He came to a halting stop somewhere between pregnant and engaged.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me. I can't believe it…Lissa with a baby and you in a dress appropriate for church." He shook his head in exasperation and I punched him hard on the arm.

"Ouch, hey you know I'm kidding. I just can't wrap my head around it. When the hell did we all start to grow up."

"Well, understandably you'd be side tracked since you had to wait a few years before it was even technically legal to date your girlfriend." At this he punched me.

"I only had to wait a few months before Jill was 17 and it was worth the wait. She's amazing Rose. I wake up every day and worry she won't actually be there. And when I see that she is, it's like my heart starts beating for real."

"That was so….corny." He drew back to hit me again. " Hey hey you know I'm kidding Eddie! I'm happy for you man. Jill deserves someone like you. Someone who won't ever forget how special she is. And that she was before the whole mess with Lissa happened.

" She's definitely special" He said with a sly smile " So now that we're adults now. What should we do?"

I gestured to the laser tag emporium that I had been leading us to every since Eddie decided he could walk again.

"Oh extremely mature of us."

"I'm going to beat your sorry ass as quick as I could in school." We practically ran into the place, and spent the rest of the afternoon jumping over man-made obstacles and howling with laughter.

-Please let me know that you guys think and again that you so much for reading!


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